


Candle On the Longest Night

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Fireside Tales [13]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, GFY, Gen, Winter Solstice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-18
Updated: 2013-12-18
Packaged: 2018-01-05 02:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1088406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I thought you might want some company, lass." Dwalin is holding an unlit candle, and behind him, a few others have unlit candles of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candle On the Longest Night

**Author's Note:**

> Bjarkha, on the winter solstice  
> Prompt: Night  
> Alternate Universe: Flame of Durin

Night comes early to Ice River in the winter, and so very late in the summer. Cold still pervades even their halls, buried beneath the mountains, and in the winter, it's cold enough they all come to the great Keep, where the rivers of fire keep everything enough warmer that they might all live.

It's not nearly so cold in Erebor, and downright hot in the summer - though not so hot as some seasons Bjarkha's been on campaign. Nights vary less between the seasons, though they're still longer in the winter and shorter in the summer. They aren't so far south they must suffer days and nights that never vary in length.

Hours before the sun sets on the shortest day of the year in Erebor, Bjarkha lights a single candle in her room, leaving the fire banked and buried beneath a thick layer of ash. A light against the darkness, to pass from one person to another until the night is gone and the sun risen again, though she has no one to pass it between.

A knock on the door makes her frown, but she calls out that it is unlocked, and whoever wishes to enter may do so.

"I thought you might want some company, lass." Dwalin is holding an unlit candle, and behind him, a few others have unlit candles of their own. Bjarkha names them each in her mind - Balin, brother of Dwalin; Ragna and her child Rori, from the furthest south of any of them; Tílithluin, the elf from Mirkwood; Fíli and Kíli, the princes - and wonders that any of them came at all. None of them are from Ice River, none of them have grown up with the traditions she has, and none of them has she spoken of this tradition with.

"Thank you," is all she says, though, and tilts her candle to light Dwalin's.

**Author's Note:**

> Ice River is the dwarrow settlement that's the furthest north, among the bit of mountains that cross the Orocarni at the very northern end. There is a good deal of geothermal activity under the main halls, otherwise, the caves would remain at freezing year-round and wouldn't be habitable, even for dwarrows. Even so, the dwarrows of Ice River tend to be more inured to the cold than others, and think of the winter around Erebor as being relatively mild.


End file.
